But, regardless of the waved-off Tootoo goal, regardless of Kronwall's hit, the Detroit Red Wings' 4-2 loss to the Minnesota Wild was both a case of the Wings falling into a classic "trap game" and a case of bad habits and plain old disinterested play surfacing at the worst time possible--and that's why tonight's loss is so infuriating.

Sure, the Minnesota Wild came into tonight's game winless-in-forever at the Joe ahead of a "rivalry night" NBC game, and sure, the Wings were playing their classic "first game back from a Western Canadian road swing," but the Wild had just defeated the same Canucks the Wings snuffed on Saturday night in a Minnesota win on Monday.

And it was the Red Wings who looked jet-lagged, all game long.

The shots were listed at 38-19 Detroit overall, with Detroit out-shooting Minnesota 18-5 in the 1st period, but the Wings were out-scored, out-first-chanced, out-second-chanced, out-hustled, out-checked, out-competed, out-detailed and of course out-clutched-and-grabbed (funny how all the "subtle interference" that the Wings were called for early in the season is just "battling" for the puck in March)...

And the Wings were never really in this one, from the time that Devin Setoguchi scored off a set play all of 2:04 in, onward.

From a fan's perspective, to see the Wild apply the Columbus Blue Jackets game--steer the Wings to the side boards in the offensive zone, let the team shoot all it wants but deny them any sniffs at secondary opportunities and any ability to screen the goalie, then slowly but surely apply a forecheck, let the Wings make mistakes and utilize down-low passes to sneak into the slot unobstructed and score "easy" goals--and to see the Wings so willingly fall into the trap set for them was incredibly disappointing and downright infuriating.

The fact that the Wild went 2-for-3 on the power play, and that the Wings were one-and-done both at even strength and on their 1-for-5 PP (with Drew Miller's goal coming with 14 seconds left in the game) didn't help...

That ain't right. Johan Franzen looked somewhat typically disinterested tonight, but he had so much company that it was scary, and yet the Wings are on the radio right now, and they're looking at the shot totals--38 to 19 on the scoreboard, with the Wings firing another 9 attempts into Wild players and another 12 wide for 21 more attempts and 59 overall--and looking at the could'a's and would'a's and are suggesting that they competed well and just got behind the 8-ball.

Did they?

Going into two incredibly dificult games against Anaheim on Friday and Sunday, then a back-to-back game against Phoenix on Monday and a game in San Jose next Thursday, all before coming back to the Joe for another tough NBC game against Chicago on March 31st and a difficult game against a team that has its number in Colorado on April 1st, did the Wings get beaten by a "hot" goalie in Niklas Backstrom...

Or did they give this one away?

Were the dearth of secondary scoring chances on Detroit's side and the mistakes-yielding-goals-goals simply the case of a hot Wild team earning breaks, momentum and then building upon it with a score that was deceptively high?

The Wings will suggest that this is just one that got away, and that it happens. But I can't help but feel that the Wings did this to themselves, at least in part, via a chorus of cascading brain farts.

And that's just plain unacceptable with a little over a month to go in the regular season.

According to 97.1 FM's Ken Kal, the team will fly to Anaheim at 12 PM EDT tomorrow. I hope the day off refreshes their brains and bodies, because the team looked mentally and physically tired tonight.

Statistics:

Shots 38-19 Detroit overall. Detroit out-shot Minnesota 19-5 in the 1st, were out-shot 12-8 in the 2nd and out-shot Minnesota 12-2 in the 3rd.

The Wild went 2-for-3 in 5:00 of PP time; the Wings went 1-for-5 in 8:11 of PP time.

Shots: Zetterberg led the team with 5 shots; Kindl and Nyquist had 4; Abdelkader, Datsyuk and Filppula had 3; Tootoo and Franzen had 2; Cleary, White, Miller, Lashoff, Emmerton, Kronwall and Andersson had 1.

That game reminded me of playoff losses to the Sharks - complete with getting burned by Setoguchi and all! It’s the same old song with the Wings. Play a good game, get some bad breaks, and wonder what could have been. Sometimes you just want the team to stop finding excuses and get it done.

Posted by
Hippy Dave
from Portland by way of Detroit on 03/20/13 at 10:55 PM ET

I feel like I’ve had this thought several times this season, but now I really do think it’s true.

This loss seems like it marks the end. I don’t think they’ll make the playoffs. I believe it feels true this time because I couldn’t figure out what exactly caused this game to so easily slip from the Wings grasp. The wonderful obtuse NHL rulebook didn’t help…but I didn’t know what the deal was when they were getting so many shots on goal, the Wild seemed so…unremarkable.

It seems to simply boil down to one simple fact: this isn’t a great hockey team. There are too many players who aren’t doing their job well enough.

well, with all teams near us having more wins, we lose any kind of tie breaker after points. Really needed that one. Tougher road ahead because of it.

Posted by
NIVO
from underpants gnome village on 03/21/13 at 12:25 AM ET

I’d like to see the coaching staff make one minor adjustment: Instead of going into a game and telling the boys “This goalie goes down early, shoot high on him.”, they should say “This goalie goes down early, shoot high on him, but also keep the shot below the crossbar.”.

And fewer games played as well. Unless a couple teams take a nose dive, it wont matter what the Wings do from here on out, there just wont be enough available points to make up for the games-in-hand difference.

Posted by
Hootinani
from the parade following Babs out of town on 03/21/13 at 10:25 AM ET

i like our team

Posted by

HockeytownOverhaul

on 03/20/13 at 10:44 PM ET

HTO, I love reading this comment in all these threads, it’s exactly what I’m always thinking too. Getting back some of those injured players at the trading deadline will be LIKE trading for a roster upgrade. I like our team.

with all teams near us having more wins
And fewer games played as well. Unless a couple teams take a nose dive, it wont matter what the Wings do from here on out, there just wont be enough available points to make up for the games-in-hand difference.

Are you guys looking at the same standings I am? There’s nobody close to Detroit in the standings who have more than one game in hand and the only team behind them who would jump ahead of them if they one their game in hand is San Jose. Everyone else who has one game in hand also has fewer wins and/or fewer points.

The standings aren’t a vaccuum. If Detroit wins more than they lose they’ll make the playoffs and if they don’t they won’t make the playoffs. Detroit’s fate is very much in their own hands.

I am absolutely perplexed by the number of brilliant chances the Wings are creating, but not scoring. what is the problem? why can’t these experienced hockey players who have been doing this all their life actually get their shots to go in?

You’re right Garth, I apologize. I was working on dated info. It seems that 3 day break cleared up all the teams with 2 games in hand, and apparently they didnt do very well overall. Still have alot of heal nippers though, even without the games-in-hand advantage.

Posted by
Hootinani
from the parade following Babs out of town on 03/21/13 at 11:28 AM ET

Absofreakinglutely.With the road heavy schedule I’m not sure the chances are 50/50 the Wings slide in to the SCPO’s.If, big IF… some miracle occurs and we head down the stretch and avoid these craptastic games like last night, we’ll be ok.

Posted by
MOWingsfan19
from I really like our team on 03/21/13 at 01:30 PM ET

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